steralising

Jenna - posted on 02/16/2010
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my daughter is 4 and a half months old. The health visitor recommends that you should sterilise bottles till they are 1 year old but i think that is too old. When does everyone think is a good time to stop?

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I never sterilized bottles beyond the first time they came out of the package. All they're getting are the normal microbiota that lives on every healthy person in your home, so long as you wash the bottles well and wash your hands well, there is no necessity to sterilize the bottles. You could also end up breaking down the plastic and having chemicals leach into the baby's formula if you boil or microwave the bottles. Think about it...are breastfeeding moms sterilizing their breasts before feedings? No.

hi with my first child i sterilized bottles till 6 months with my 2nd daughter she is 6 months next week and i will be stopping doing it to her bottles too! she picks stuff up off the floor and has dummys so she is getting germs from these i dont see much point along as you was the bottle in hot soap water this is as good as any sterilizer!!

This is absolute crap that the health visitor told you. I am a midwife and we recommend not to steralise your own bottles. This is the same advice most child health nurses give(the good one anyway!) steralising of bottles is part of the reason allergies in child are on the rise we are a community too obsessed with cleaniness. Warm soapy water, rinse and store in fridge and you want go wrong.

This may sound weird but I have never sterilized any of my kids bottles. I didn't even know you were supposed to with my first 2. I wash them after each use and I never save left over formula but I never sterilize the bottles or nipples. I disinfect their toys once a week for the baby and once a month for my older 2.

I will admit my first child I sterilized everything, now as a seasoned mom I only sterilize for newborn and only once, my second child put everything in her mouth including the dogs tail, after that I realized I needed to stop worrying so much and spend more time playing on the floor with them. So all you new moms, God made dirt dirt wont hurt!!!! Enjoy your little ones spend some extra snuggle time and stop cleaning so much!!!!

wow- ok, so we sterilize bottles & pacis every night to prep for the next day but after reading everyone's responses, clearly I'm working way harder then I need to!! Lizz is so right about picking stuff up off the floor, but being a first time mom, I think I needed someone else to say before I realized it!!! Thanks for your post - I think it might have just saved me a huge whack of time!!!

Uhm... I've never really steralized any bottles. I wash them in hot soapy water. That's it. People are TOO obsessive with keeping things steralized, it is actually weaking the kids' immune systems and making them MORE likely to get sick.

I am a first time mom and like my mom says I do 'everything by the book' LOL. I have been washing in hot soapy water and sterilizing for 5 months. After reading this and thinking about it, it does seem a little overboard to sterilize bottles when everything else can be washed in hot soapy water. Good thing I use glass bottles and the constant boiling doesn't hurt them.

I only sterilized bottles and pacifiers when they were first bought, after that its hot soapy water like all the other dishes! I know, i'm terrible, but I'm a firm believer in building a healthy immune system so i never sterilize unless its something that we just bought. If soapy water is good enough for me to eat from, its good enough for my daughter. If someone wants a microwave sterilizer you can have mine, i never opened it!

Lizz, I busted out laughing when I read your reply! lol Thanks needed that today!

I rarely use a bottle since my Miles is breastfed, but when we do, I just wash with hot water and soap. Occasionally after that I toss them in a Medela steam bag in the micro, but really only if I happen to have other stuff that I'm popping in the micro bag as well.

I use the plastic Nuks, and as with the other two posts, I sterilized them once when I got them home, but never after that. I just use hot sudsy water too. I think most are dishwasher safe, but when I washed them in the dishwasher, they always come out with a soapy film, so I hand wash everything.

I have the Dr Brown bottles that help with colic and gas and they're plastic and the store rep, nurses I talked to and the company told us that you boil/sterilize all the bottles once and then after that hot water and soap was more than sufficient. Hope thats helpful ; )